1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a conveying arrangement for use with a transport member for conveying printed products along a conveying section. The conveying arrangement includes guide channel segments which are connected to each other via flanges, are embodied tunnel-shaped in the conveying direction, and are provided, on the side opposite the transport member that traverses on rollers, with a continuous opening on the underside for a mechanism which takes over a direct and/or indirect conveying of the printed products along the conveying direction. Arranged on the inside of the guide channel segments and the flanges are guide rail elements which support run surface elements for the transport member.
2. Prior Art
According to the Swiss Patent No. CH701855 A1, the respective guide segments are provided at the plant with outside flanges on both ends. These outside flanges comprise centering elements, so one flange can be joined precisely fitting and practically without tolerances to the respective outside flange of an adjacent guide segment or a work station. During the production at the plant, it is furthermore ensured that the ends of the running surfaces of the channel segment, formed by a guide segment and the two outside flanges, are located in a precisely specified position with respect to the centering. A continuous, meaning a low-tolerance and smooth transition without kinks, is thus ensured at the lowest possible cost for the assembly at the location for joining a channel segment with the adjacent channel segment.
More specifically, the above Swiss patent discloses a “conveying arrangement with a guide channel (10) which comprises at least one guide segment (20) of a profile material and a conveying member (52) that is positioned inside the guide channel (10) and is driven in a conveying direction (F), for which running wheels (54) cooperate with running surfaces (56), characterized in that respectively one outside flange (16) is fixedly arranged on each end of the guide segment (20), that the outside flanges (16) comprise centering means (24) and are joined precisely fitting with an outside flange (16) of an additional guide segment (20) or a work station (18) via the centering means (24), as well as that the running surfaces (56) are in a precisely specified position, relative to the centering means (24), so as to ensure a continuous transition for the running surfaces (56) at the joining locations.
To further ensure a gap-free and smooth, continuous transition of the running surfaces 56 and the guide surfaces 50 at the joining location between one outside flange 16 and another one and/or with the work station 18, this Swiss patent proposes that the running surfaces 56 and, if applicable, also the guide surfaces 50 are positioned precisely in a defined, predetermined position, relative to the centering means 24. The tolerance for said position is preferably less than or equal to 0.02 mm, in particular less than or equal to 0.01 mm. To achieve this goal, the respective regions of the outside flanges 16 can be ground at the plant (paragraph 0037).
A continuous and smooth transition can also be achieved in this case in the region of the guide surfaces 50 and the running surfaces 56, from the guide segment 20 to the outside flange 16 (paragraph 0040), by using a grinding or other processing method at the plant.
It is obvious that this assumed precise fit cannot be achieved in all cases since it is explained in the specification that precautions are taken at the plant (see also paragraph 0040), e.g. with the aid of a grinding operation, to ensure that once the outside flange 16 is fixedly connected to the guide segment 20, the guide surfaces 50 and the running surfaces 56 assume a precisely defined position on the guide segment 20, relative to the centering means 24 of the outside flange 16. The joining plane 78 is furthermore advantageously processed so that the end 22 of the guide segment 20 rests precisely in the joining plane 78 that is defined by the outside flange 16 (paragraph 0042).
A guide arrangement is also disclosed in International Patent Publication No. WO2011/060560 A2 which comprises connecting elements that can be connected precisely positioned as a result of a form-locking engagement. For this, the connecting elements can already be affixed to the guide elements at the plant, so that the components consisting of guide element and connecting element can be pre-fabricated, using standard parts such as straight-line guide elements, curved guide elements and connecting elements. During the pre-fabrication at the plant, it is thus possible to ensure a smooth transition from the guide element to the connecting element. At the installation location, the pre-fabricated components, also referred to as channel segments, can be joined form-locking in the region of the contact surfaces for these connecting elements, which face each other along the end faces and extend approximately perpendicular to the conveying section, wherein as a result of the form-locking connection of the contact surfaces facing away from the respective guide elements, an automatic centering of the pre-fabricated components relative to each other takes place, thereby ensuring a smooth transition between the guide surfaces of the individual components that serve to guide the conveying chain. Within the scope of this document, in particular, it has been recognized that the additional expenditure resulting from the guide elements and connecting elements can be accepted without problem in view of the consequently achieved simplification of assembly at the assembly location since this simplified assembly results in a noticeable reduction in time for the final assembly.
The form-locking connection of the end contact surfaces can be achieved if one contact surface is provided with at least one projection and the other contact surface is embodied with at least one complementary depression and/or a recess which can accommodate the projection in a form-locking manner. The connecting elements generally comprise an essentially flat limit surface that faces the guide surface, as well as a contact surface extending approximately parallel to the flat limit surface, wherein the projection on the contact surface extends along the conveying section, approximately in the direction opposite the limit surface that is facing the guide element while the depression extends in the direction of the limit surface facing the guide element.
In summary, conveying arrangements, comprising a preferably continuously circulating conveying chain that is guided with the aid of a suitable guide arrangement along a conveying section, are used for transporting printed products between individual processing stations, such as inserting machines, addressing devices, adhesive application machines, and the like. In the process, the printed products are generally held by grippers and/or clamps mounted on the chain links and, if applicable, are released by the grippers at the processing stations. To ensure a continuous operation, the conveying chain is generally operated continuously circulating along the conveying section that is determined by the guide arrangement. The conveying section normally comprises straight and curved sections or channel sections, wherein the curved sections can be arranged within a horizontal plane, a vertical plane or a plane that extends at an angle either up or down. The conveying arrangement consequently must also comprise straight-line as well as curved guide channel sections which thus determine the curves of the conveying section.
The conveying section can extend over a length of 100 m or more and can thus extend over a complete production room in horizontal and vertical direction. The conveying arrangement which determines the conveying section therefore cannot be produced in one piece, but must be fitted together using individual guide elements that are connected with the aid of suitable means. Corresponding guide arrangements are described, for example, in the WO99/33731, the EP1029815 A1, the WO99/33722, the WO99/33732 and the WO99/33730.
During the assembly of the known guide arrangements, the individual guide elements are normally joined along the end faces and are fixedly connected with the aid of clamping devices that engage in the side walls of the guide elements.
During the installation of the individual guide channel segments, attention must be paid to ensure that a smooth and uninterrupted transition exists between the guide channel segments for guiding the run surface elements at the separating planes of the guide channel segments and the flanges, so as to guarantee a low-noise and low-wear operation. In many cases, the transitions at the separating planes are reworked, for example with a grinding operation to smooth them. However, even following such an additional processing, it can be observed in many cases that the operation of the conveying chain along the conveying arrangement is noisy and disquiet.